Belzoni Police Officer James Lee Jackson (Yazoo City Police Department).
Authorities in Mississippi arrested a police officer after allegedly finding him passed out in a patrol car while holding a meth pipe in his hand.
According to the Yazoo City Police Department, officers received a call around 3 a.m. on Saturday for a car that was idled at a stop light. Cops arrived on the scene to find it was not just any car but a police cruiser. The vehicle was from the Belzoni Police Department, a town about 25 miles to the north. They looked to find that there was an officer, later identified as 41-year-old James Lee Jackson, inside. It also appeared that the police officer was holding a pipe used for drug use.
The officers tried to wake him up to no avail. Cops eventually jolted him awake and got him out of the car. They allegedly determined that he was indeed holding a pipe used for methamphetamine and other narcotics. A search of his car yielded a small bag of marijuana, cops said.
Jackson reportedly refused to take any field sobriety tests or allow officers to take any blood or urine samples. He made no statements of note to officers, although he allegedly exhibited signs of intoxication.
Police arrested Jackson for possession of paraphernalia and DUI refusal, but he could face additional charges in the future. They took him to the Yazoo City Jail where he has since bonded out.
Belzoni is a small town of less than 2,000 people in west-central Mississippi. The police department reportedly has about 10 officers. The agency did not return a call seeking comment about Jackson’s current status as an officer. It’s unclear how long he has been with the department or if he was on duty at the time of his arrest. Police said it’s unclear what he was doing in Yazoo City.
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